Yeah, I reckon it's more negative geared than neutral.

Insurance costs will be around $400 per year or higher or lower depending who you go with – oh and I tihnk it might be different for you since you plan to self-manage the property.

Also consider that even though you will manage the property yourself, there will be costs such as advertising…[Read more]

There are still houses in Western Sydney that fit your budget of $200k-$300k.

Like some of the others previously, I also advocate the positive cashflow strategy. If you want to be financially free by your 30s, you just need to figure out how much money you need per month to live well without working. Then figure out how many positive cashflow…[Read more]

I second the Magic of Thking Big!

Oh, and just to help you out with going through all these books, just remember that you don't have to necessarily read them in book format. I've read alot of books, but most of them have actually been in audiobook format. I've learned that I'm an auditory learner, but also you may find that you can read alot more…[Read more]

Personally I'm on the positive geared camp, like Steve McKnight. I also advocate reading his book. It's a good philosophy.

I don't like losing money and negative geared is more risky in my opinion because you're hoping that appreciation will occur and will make you money some time later down the track. I like the passive income aspects of…[Read more]

I think vendor finance would be a good option to prevent you losing tens of thousands of dollars from just selling your properties in a flat market.

It reminds me of the vendor finance example that Steve Mcknight talks about in his book. That might help you out with figuring out the numbers and working out how to get it back to making you…[Read more]

This is my take on your questions:

– How do Positive geared properties make money in the long run?  Is the idea to keep them forever or to sell them within the 6 year period to avoid CGT?
They make money for you by replacing your working income. Positive geared properties have a main purpose to help you be financially free. Therefore, you need…[Read more]

Trusts make much more sense. With trusts you also have the power to distribute income. And the limited liability is very appealing.

If you have a read of Steve McKnight's books, he goes through a comparison of the different kinds of entities, such as sole ownership, partnership, company and trust. This could be very helpful for you to take a look…[Read more]

Have you checked the outgoings? Such as strata fees, other fees? Maybe they are high too, and eat up all the income.
Also, at $599,000 that's a rather expensive CF+ property. The stamp duty on that would also be huge. There are much more positive cashflow properties that are cheaper at half the price of that or even less.. That's perhaps the…[Read more]